


i'm sick of all the insincere, so i'm gonna give all my secrets away

by LilacsAndLilies



Series: Parkner Week 2020!!! [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Day 2, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, Harley Keener as Iron Lad, Humor, Identity Reveal, M/M, Miscommunication, Parkner Week 2020, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:47:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25669918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilacsAndLilies/pseuds/LilacsAndLilies
Summary: Harley was in love with Peter Parker.Spider-Man was in love with Iron Lad.Neither of them knew each other's identities, but they were about to find out.Parkner Week Day 2: “And I said ‘no,’ you know, like a liar.” / identity shenanigans / iron lad
Relationships: Harley Keener/Peter Parker
Series: Parkner Week 2020!!! [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859662
Comments: 14
Kudos: 188
Collections: Parkner Week 2020





	i'm sick of all the insincere, so i'm gonna give all my secrets away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RandyQueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandyQueen/gifts).



Peter looked down at his suit, distractedly tapping his fingers against his thigh. He was sitting on the roof of a building, his legs hanging over the side. A light whirring sound filled the air and Peter looked up to see Iron Lad gently landing down next to him. The other hero walked over and joined Peter in sitting on the roof. The building in question was in an abandoned lot and the side they were sitting on was facing out towards the ocean. It was quickly getting dark, making it the perfect location. 

"You ready?" Iron Lad asked him, his words short, as if he still expected Peter to say no, for this to end and both of them to just go home.

"As I'll ever be." Peter was once again thankful that the mask covered the unease on his face. He couldn’t help but wonder if they were making the right decision.

* * *

This had all started a month ago. They were on patrol together, as they almost always were. One thing led to another, and they found themselves in the middle of taking down a drug ring. It really hadn’t been Peter’s intention to get involved, but he heard something from Matt during their weekly training sessions and then they came across someone in an alley whispering about something and Peter really didn’t think it was going to be that big, but apparently it was. 

The battle went well, they won, got all of the criminals in jail. It was perfect except for one little thing- Peter getting shot. He was fine now, but at the time Iron Lad had started to freak out a little (which Peter thought wasn’t really necessarily, it was a graze), but in his attempts to calm the other hero down, Peter might or might not have mentioned that he had been in far worse situations before.

Iron Lad had closed up after that, started avoiding Peter, and Peter didn’t really know why. It was two weeks later, when he was back on patrol after getting a clear bill of health that the other hero explained.

_ “You almost died and I didn’t know about it.” The voice sounded odd, coming from inside the metal suit, but Peter could hear the panic in it all the same. “What if one day, something happens to you, and Spider-Man just disappears? I know so much about you, but I don’t even know your name. How would I know if something happens to you as a civilian?” _

Peter had never really considered that. He always thought that if something were to happen to him, it would be as Spider-Man. But even then, Iron Lad’s point was right. What if something happened to either of them? How would they find out? 

It was during that conversation that they decided to reveal their identity to each other. They had been patrolling together for over two years, and Peter trusted Iron Lad more than anything. Not to mention the fact that Peter had a little bit of a crush on Iron Lad, but didn’t want to ask out the other hero until he knew who was in the suit. They decided to give it a few weeks to make sure this was something they were ok with.

* * *

Today was the day after those few weeks.

“I guess we can do it at the same time?” Iron Lad’s voice shook, and Peter knew the other hero was just as nervous as he was. 

Peter nodded, his hands reaching up to finger the ends of his mask. He had sent the last few days trying to imagine what Iron Lad would look like. How old was he? What color was his hair? What did he do for a living besides patrolling the streets of New York? 

“S.O.P.H.I.E, disengage on the count of three.” Iron Lad whispered, but Peter could still hear. 

“One.” Harley started.

“Two.” Peter chimed in.

“Three.” They both finished together as Iron Lad stepped out of the suit and Peter pulled off his mask.

Peter’s jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide. None other than Harley Keener was standing in front of him. The same Harley who went to school with him for the last two years. The same Harley who was in his classes, who sat with him at lunch, who was one of his best friends. Harley, who had been in his apartment, who had movie marathons with him. Harley who was from the south and loved to cook and stare at the stars and make robots with stupid names and make jokes about Star Trek while Peter and Ned argued about Star Wars. The same Harley.

“Peter?” Harley’s voice cracked. Now that he was standing outside the suit, Peter could start to hear the resemblance in their voices. Now that he thought about it, things started to align. The way that Iron Lad always refused to have a victory meal with him at McDonalds matched how Harley hated fast food, preferring to make it at home himself. Iron Lad loved to push their curfew, patrol until the stars lit up the sky, staring up at them and rambling about the constellations. Harley had taken the only astronomy class the school offered, and he was always looking for more. The more and more he thought about it, the more obvious it seemed. Harley was his best friend, and he hadn’t noticed that the hero he was crushing on was one and the same.

_ Oh no. _ Peter had a crush on Iron Lad, who was Harley. Harley, who had kinda maybe asked him out a few weeks ago. It had been vague, Peter had brushed it off, not wanting to say yes when he was so gone for his fellow super hero. Harley waved it away, trying to pass it off as a joke or a friendly statement. It wasn’t believable but Peter had let him anyway. They both pretended it never happened, quickly fitting back to their friendly dynamic, but every once in a while, Peter would catch Harley throwing sad glances at him. Peter hated to hurt him like this, but he couldn’t say yes when he knew he was crushing on someone else.

But now. His plan had been to ask out whoever was in the Iron Lad suit. Except that was the same person he sorta somewhat turned down a few weeks. How was he going to do that?

“Hey Harley.” Peter tried to steady his voice. “This is quite the coincidence.”

“You’re telling me.” Harley’s voice was incredulous.

“So it looks like your fears were unfounded. You would be the first to know if anything happened to me, in the suit or out.” Peter grinned, pulling out his usual evasive tactic of humor. 

“Why- uh why didn’t you tell me?”

“I could ask you the same.” Peter gestured at the suit, still open behind Harley.

The blond cheeks became flushed. “Sorry, that was a stupid question.” 

They just stood there, staring at each other. Then Harley started talking with fake nonchalance. “You know, when you turned down my request to go on a date, I assumed it was because you were dating someone else. I mean, people told me you were missing a lot, I even saw you flaking a couple times, so I assumed you were going on dates or something. This kinda cancels that fake reason I had come up with to make myself feel better.”

Peter didn’t know what possessed him to say this, but his mouth just started saying the words before he could stop himself. “No, you’re right. I said no because I had a crush on someone else. And everytime I disappeared, it was to go see that crush.”

“Really?” Harley had an equal parts disappointed and confused look on his face. “Who?”

“Iron Lad.”

Harley blinked at him really quickly and his mouth fell open. “So you said no to me when I asked you out because you had a crush on me?”

Peter nodded. If he wasn’t so mortified by what he had just admitted, he might have even laughed at himself. “Welcome to Parker Luck.”

Harley laughed and shook his head. “Only you Peter.” After calming down, the blond looked over at Peter, his eyes seeming to stare straight into him. “So, if I were to ask you again…”

Peter’s throat went dry. He just nodded, looking down at his hands. 

“Peter Parker aka. Spider-Man, would you like to go out on a date with me?”

“Harley Keener aka. Iron Lad, I would love to.”

Peter smiled at Harley, who grinned back at him in response. “We should have done this earlier.”

“Agreed.”

“So, uh, who else knows about you being Spider-Man?”

“Ned.”

“What?” Harley looked at him, shocked yet again, but this time the shock was more for Harley’s own dramatic nature. “And he didn’t tell me?”

“Did he know about you?”

“No, but MJ did.”

Peter couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “MJ most likely knew about me too.”

“So she knew about both of us, and just didn’t say anything?”

“Seems like a thing she would do.” They shared another grin, falling into another silence, but a more more comfortable one this time.

The sun was mostly gone from the sky, and with tomorrow being a school day, Peter knew he had to make it home soon, or risk facing May’s wrath. He pulled on his mask. “I think I’m going to go now, before May kills me for staying out past curfew.”

Harley looked up at the sky as if just realizing how late it was. “I should probably go too.”

Peter gave him one final look. “See you tomorrow?”

“Yup. And I’ll text you about that date.”

Peter smiled and shot a web at a nearby building. He didn’t stop grinning the entire way home. And when he got back, he saw one little notification from Harley Keener.  _ Meet you after school tomorrow, I’ll take you out somewhere. _

Peter flopped back onto his bed, a bright smile on his face. He shot back a quick response.  _ I can’t wait. _

**Author's Note:**

> Talk to me on tumblr @lilacsandlilies4  
> or on discord @LilacsAndLilies#4691


End file.
